Hanger assembly for attaching a form to a structural beam

ABSTRACT

A hanger assembly for a form for encasing a structural member such as an I-beam, has a pair of U-shaped wire members assembled over the top of the structural member, and a pair of U-shaped members for holding a lower form member, the latter U-shaped members having upwardly extending ends which are joined by means of toggle clips to the downwardly extending ends of the former Ushaped wire members.

United States Patent 1 1 Anderson 1 1 HANGER ASSEMBLY FOR ATTACHING AFORM TO A STRUCTURAL BEAM [76] Inventor. Edward J. Anderson. 21 BrownSt..

West Babylon. NY. I 1704 [22] Filed: June 26, 1973 [211 App]. No.1373,625

{52] U.S. C1. 249/23; 248/214; 248/228;

248/327; 249/211 [511 int. Cl. E04g 13/04 [581 Field of Search 249/18,9. 23. 25. 28.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.218.819 10/1940 Hillbcrg249/23 2.611.943 9/1952 Templeton 249/211 2.765.139 10/1956 White 2248/228 1 1 June 10, 1975 2.900.684 8/1959 Miles. Jr. 249/23 3.420.5601/1969 Pfahning 52/289 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 907.140 1954Germany 248/228 170.294 1934 Switzerland 249/25 Primary Examiner-RobertD. Baldwin Assistant Examiner-John McQuade [57] ABSTRACT A hangerassembly for a form for encasing a structural member such as an l-beam,has a pair of U-shaped wire members assembled over the top of thestructural member. and a pair of U-shaped members for holding a lowerform member. the latter U-shaped members having upwardly extending endswhich are joined by means of toggle clips to the downwardly extendingends of the former U-shaped wire members.

11 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 10 I975 3 888 .452

SHEET 1 i W Fi l 4 l5--:-i IO g v Q .1

{Fla :1 S q :i Q I2 E: i: H3 n PRIOR ART PRIOR ART I HANGER ASSEMBLY FORATTAUHING A FORM TO A STRUCTURAL BEAM This invention relates to theencasing of structural members. such as steel construction beams and thelike. with concrete or similar encasing material. This invention is moreparticularly directed to an improved hanger assembly facilitating thefabrication of boxt vpe structures around I-beams or the like. which aretemporarily employed during the pouring of concrete around a structuralmember.

It is a common practice in the fabrication of structures to encasestructural members. such as steel I- beams. in concrete. This practiceprovides the advantages of increased strength of the structure. greaterfire resistance. and also reduces the necessity of boxing in the beamsby other techniques for esthetic reasons.

In the formation of beams of this type. it is of course necessary toprovide some type of form during construction. in order to hold thedesired shape of the concrete poured around the beam until the concretehas set.

As an example. in one prior arrangement. a wire clamp was provided forholding the lower member of the box structure in a position spaced belowthe I- beam. The wire was loop-shaped. and extended upwardly through thebottom member of the box. the open ends being bent around the top of the[beam to extend across the top of the I-beam. and thence being foldedunder the opposite upper flange of the I-beam.

This arrangement is subject to a number of disadvantages. For example.when a worker builds a box structure by this technique. the work isgenerally performed above his head. He must usually work in a confinedspace. and hammer the ends of the wire support around the I-beam. Theoperation is consequently time consuming and arduous. and the wiresfrequently do not hold the bottom members of the box with the desiredtension to insure uniformity of the finished beam.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improveddevice for facilitating the fabrication of box forms around beams. whileovercoming the disadvantages. as above stated of prior art devices.

Briefly stated. in accordance with my invention, I provide a hangerdevice for supporting a support structure beneath a structural membersuch as an I-beam. the support structure being adapted to form or bepart of a concrete pouring form. In its preferred form. the hangerstructure is comprised of four generally U- shaped wire members. Two ofthe wire members are adapted to be positioned over the top of thestructural member. with their open ends extending downwardly. The othertwo wire members support and extend up wardly from the form supportingmember. The upper ends of each of the lower wire members extend to theproximity of the ends of the downwardly extending wire members. onopposite sides of the structural member. and toggle clip means areprovided for affixing the ends of the lower members to correspondingends of the upper wire members. In other words. the two ends of each ofthe lower wire members are affixed by a toggle clamp to downwardlyextending ends of separate upper wire members.

With this arrangement. it is relatively simple for a worker to clamp asupport structure beneath the structural member. and it is not necessaryto hammer over the ends of a wire support as was previously the practice. In addition. the clamping structure in accordance with theinvention provides the advantage that the desired tension is maintainedin the wire support structure. so that the concrete form is properlysupported around the structural member.

In order that the invention will be more clearly understood. it will nowbe disclosed in greater detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. in which:

FIG. I is a simplified illustration of a supporting arrangement employedin the past;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a wire hanger employed in thearrangement of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of an I-beam and supportingstructure. employing a hanger arrangement in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a hanger clamp taken along the lines 4-4of FIG. 3'.

FIG. 5 is a reduced partially cross-sectional view of a portion of thearrangement of FIG. 3 taken along the lines 5-5;

FIG. 6 is a partially cross sectional view of a modification of aportion of the arrangement of FIG. 5'.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a toggle clampof the type which may be employed in the arrangements of FIGS. 35;

FIG. 8 is a simplified perspective view of the wire clamping structurein accordance with the invention,

with the structural member and support structure being omitted to moreclearly illustrate the configuration of the hanger structure inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 9 is a partially cross sectional view of the clip of FIG. 7,illustrating one manner of attachment of the lower wire member to theclamp;

FIG. 10 is a partially cross sectional view of a portion ofthe clamp ofFIG. 7, illustrating one arrangement for affixing the upper wire memberto the clamp of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 11 is a partially frontal view of a portion of the clamp of FIG. 7.illustrating a modification therein.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, thereinis illustrated a clamping technique previously employed for clamping asupport structure to an I-beam for supporting a concrete form. In FIG.I, the [beam 10 is illustrated in cross-sectional view. The bottommember 11 of the pouring form is spaced from the bottom of the I-beam bymeans of a suitable clip 12, which may be for example, nailed to theform member 11. The form member II, which may be of wood. is supportedon a support member 13, which may also be of wood. For example. in atypical construction, the support members 13 may be provided spacedalong the l-beam. and extending in the lengthwise direction to formsupport members for the pouring forms of other I-beams. For example. thesupport member 13 may be a conventional wood 2 X 4. In order to hold thesupport member, and hence the form member 11 in position. a wire clip I4such as illustrated in FIG. 2, was employed. This U-shaped clip extendedaround the bottom of the support member 13, and the endsthereofextending upwardly through suitable holes in the form member 11.At its upper end. the ends of the clip were bent. for example byhammering. to extend across the top of the l-beam. the ends then beingbent to extend under the upper opposite flange of the l-beam.

With this arrangement. it is of course necessary for the worker. inassembly of the form. to hammer the clips into position. Since this workwas generally done from a platform suspended beneath the I-beam with theworker assembling the components over his head, the task was arduous anddid not result in uniform tension in the wire clip. As a result, on manyoccasions the form for pouring concrete was not uniformly sup ported.

The dash lines in FIG. illustrate the locations of other members of thepouring form which are joined to the bottom member 1] by conventionaltechnique.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-5, therein is illustrated a side elevation of ahanger assembly in accordance with the preferred embodiment of myinvention. As shown in these figures, a U shaped wire member is providedextending around the support member 13, with its open end extendingupwardly through the form member 11 to separate toggle clips 21 disposedat the sides of the I-beam. A similar U-shaped wire member is providedat the opposite side (not visible in FIGS. 3-5) of the I-beam, the otherwire member being affixed to a pair of similar clips 21 disposed at theopposite side of the I-beam. In addition, a pair of downwardly extendingU-shaped wire members 22 are pro vided extending across the top of thel'beam, with their open ends beingjoined to separate clips 21. Theoverall configuration of the hanger structure in accordance with theinvention is more clearly seen in FIG. 8. In another manner ofdescribing the assembly, a pair of U- shaped wire members 20 in planesparallel to the web of the I-beam are provided on opposite sides of theI- beam for supporting engagement with the supporting structure, theends of these wire members extending upwardly. A pair of U-shaped wiremembers 22 are looped over the top of the Lbeam and are disposed inplanes normal to the longitudinal direction of the I- beam. Thedownwardly extending ends of the wire members 22 are joined to theupwardly extending ends of wire members 20 by means of the separateclips 21. As will be apparent from the following description, the clips21 are designed to have a toggle action, so that the wires are firmlyheld in place after assembly.

In the modification illustrated in FIG. 6, instead of extending aroundthe support members 13, the wire members 20 may extend through holesdrilled in the support member 13. This modification may of course bemore desirable when the widths of the support members 13 are greaterthan the desired spacings between the upward extending portions of thewire members 20.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, each clip 21 is formed of a flat elongated strip, forexample of sheet metal. The upper portion is bent to form alongitudinally extending U-shape. For example, the strips may betransversely cut, as at 32, with the portion of the metal above the cut32 being bent parallel to the longitudinal axis of the strip to form theU-shaped portion 23. A first aperture 24 is provided in the lowerportion of the clip 2] generally beneath the cut 32. and a sec ondaperture is provided generally centrally in the flat portion of the clipgenerally aligned with the U- shaped portion 23 of the clip. In thearrangement illustrated in FIG. 7, wherein the clip is shown in clampedposition, the upper wire member 22 extends downwardly along the one sideof the clip, extending gener ally through the region defined by theU-shaped portion 23 and thence to the aperture 24. At the aperture 24the end of the wire member is bent at a right angle to extend throughthe aperture 24, the end of the wire member 22 being enlarged, forexample by peen ing, as seen in FIG. 10, so that the clip 21 ispivotally held on the end of the wire member 22. In a preferredembodiment of the invention, each end of each of the U-shaped wiremembers 22 similarly holds a separate clip 21.

While in the arrangement of FIGS. 7 and 10 the clip 21 is permanentlyheld on the end of the wire member 22, due to the peening of the end ofthe wire member, in a modification thereof as illustrated in FIG. II.the aperture 24 may be in the form of a key hole slot, so that the clip21 may be affixed to the end of the wire member 20 by insertion of theenlarged end of the wire member through the circular portion of theaperture 24, and then sliding the bent over end of the wire member 22 toengage the narrower portion 40 of the aperture 24.

As further illustrated in FIG. 7, the open end of the lower wire member20 extends upwardly along the other side of the clip and is bent toextend through the aperture 25. As illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, 7 and 9,the bend 33 in the end of the wire member 20 is slightly greater thangenerally in the plane normal to the plane of the wire member 20. sothat the end of the wire member 20 will not slip out of the aperture 25when the wire member 20 is under tension. It is to be further noted thatthe end of each wire member 20 extends sufficiently far beyond the planeof the clip 21 that it can interfere with free pivotal movement of theclip 21 about the end of the wire member 22 when the hanger isassembled. The end 30 of the wire member 22 preferably does not havesuch an extension, In order to facilitate assembly of the wire members20 through holes in the form members, the bent over ends of the upwardlyextending portions of the wire members 20 may be formed after the wiremembers 20 have been inserted through the holes in the form member.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, for each hanger assemblythe worker is provided with a pair of wire members 22, a separate clipbeing pivotally affixed to each end of each wire member 22, and theworker is also provided with a pair of Ushaped wire members 20. In orderto assemble the hanger for supporting a support structure, and hence aform member, it is initially assumed that the form members are providedwith spacing clips 12, and that the support members 13 are temporarilyheld in position by any suitable means. The worker then assembles a pairof the U- shaped members 22 over the top of the l-beam aligned withopposite sides of a support member, with the clips 21 at the sides ofthe I-beam. The U-shaped members 20 are then positioned to extend aroundthe support member, with their ends extending upwardly, and the bentover ends of the wire members 20 are inserted in apertures 25 ofseparate clips 21. At this time the longitudinal axes of the clips 2]will not extend vertically, as in the arrangement of FIG. 3 so thatsubstantially no force is required to insert the ends ofthe wire members20 in the apertures 25. Then each of the clips 21 is rotated about thehorizontal axis defined by the end of the corresponding wire member 22,until the U-shaped portion 23 of the clip engages the upwardly extendingportion of the corresponding wire member 22, i.e., the positionsillustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 7. At this point it will be noted thata toggle action has occurred. For example, referring to FIG. 3, andconsidering the pivotal axis of the clip to be at aperture 24, the endof each wire tends to rotate the clip in a clockwise direction. and thismovement is restrained by the engagement between the U-shaped portion 23of the clip and the upwardly extending portion of the wire member 22. Itis thus apparent that the clips may he designed to provide any desiredtension in the wire members 20 and 22. by the proper selection oflocations for the apertures 24 and 25.

As discussed above. the ends of each wire member 20 extend beyond theplane of the clip 21 a sufficicnt distance to interfere with thecomplete rotational movement of the clip 21. This is illustrated inFIGS. 4, 5 and 7. Such extensions on the ends of the wire members 20inhibit the unlocking of the clips 2] from their toggle position. Inother words. it is apparent that the ends of the wire members 20 willengage the wire members 22 before the dead center position is reached inthe toggle action of the clips, so that the ends of the wire members 20inhibit accidental release of the clips. The wire members 20 and 22 andthe clips 21 are sufficiently flexible so that they may be bent duringassembly sufficiently that the ends of the wire members 20 pass thewires 22 as the clips are rotated to the position illustrated in H6. 3.

In order to enable use of the hanger assembly according to the inventionwith structural combinations of different dimensions, the clip 20 may beprovided with one or more additional apertures 35, as illustrated inFIG. 3. These additional apertures 35 are aligned longitudinally of theclips with the apertures 25. so that a worker may select the desiredaperture, depending upon the l-beam. support member and form memberdimensions. Thus, a single clip assembly may be adapted for a number ofdifferent applications.

While the invention has been disclosed with reference to a limitednumber of embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that manymodifications and variations may be made therein, and it is thereforeintended in the following claims to cover each such variation andmodification as falls within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A hanger assembly for holding a pouring form for encasing astructural member, said assembly comprising first and second pairs ofU-shaped members, and separate toggle clip means for interconnectingeach end of each U-shaped member of said first pair of U- shaped membersto a separate end of the U-shaped members of said second pair ofU-shaped members, the two ends of each U-shaped member of said firstpair of U-shaped members being interconnected by separate said toggleclip means to the ends of separate U-shaped members of said second pairof U-shaped members.

2. A hanger assembly for holding a pouring form for encasing astructural member wherein said form includes a support member positionedunder said structural member, said assembly comprising first and sec ondspaced apart U-shaped members positioned over said structural memberwith the open ends thereof extending downwardly on opposite sides ofsaid structural member. third and fourth spaced apart U-shaped memberspositioned to hold said support member and having upwardly extendingopen ends. and separate toggle clip members on the ends of said firstand second members and connected to separate ends of said third andfourth members.

3. A hanger assembly for holding a pouring form for encasing astructural member wherein said form includes a support member extendingtransversely under said structural member, said assembly comprisingfirst and second spaced apart Ushaped members positioned with theirclosed ends over said structural member and their open ends extendingdownwardly on opposite sides of said structural member, third and fourthspaced apart U-shaped members on opposite sides of said structuralmember and each having closed ends under said support member and openends extending upwardly. and separate toggle clip members on the ends ofsaid first and second members and connected to separate ends of saidthird and fourth members.

4. The hanger assembly of claim 3 wherein said first. second and thirdand fourth U-shaped members are formed of wire.

5. The hanger assembly of claim 3 wherein said clip members arecomprised of a metal strip having a longitudinally extending U-shapedguide on one end thereof. a central aperture, and an additional apertureon other end thereof, the ends of said first. second. third and fourthU-shaped members being bent, the bent end of each of said first andsecond member extending through one of the apertures of a separate clip,and the bent end of each of said third and fourth members extendingthrough the other aperture in a separate clip, whereby in clampedposition the one of said first. second, third and fourth membersextending through the additional apertures in each clip also engages theU shaped guide of the corresponding clip.

6. The hanger assembly of claim 5 wherein said strip comprises at leastone further aperture longitudinally aligned with said central aperture.

7. The hanger assembly of claim 5 wherein the end of one of the first,second, third and fourth members at each clip is bent over at an anglegreater than 8. The hanger assembly of claim 7 wherein the end of theother of said first, second. third and fourth members at each clip ispeened to retain said clip thereon 9. The hanger assembly of claim 5wherein the ones of said first, second, third and fourth members at eachsaid clip extend along opposite sides of the respective clip.

10. The hanger assembly of claim 9 wherein one of said first, second.third and fourth members at each clip has an end bent over at an angleof greater than 90, the bent over end extending through the centralaperture of the respective clip and extending therebeyond a distancegreater than the distance between the clip and the other of said first.second. third and fourth members at the respective clip.

11. The hanger assembly of claim 5 wherein said strip has a transverselyextending cut at said one end. said U-shaped guide being formed of theportion of said strip between said cut and said one end thereof bentover along a longitudinal axis of said strip. said central aperturebeing generally aligned with said U-shaped guide, and said additionalaperture being longitudinally aligned with said cut.

1. A hanger assembly for holding a pouring form for encasing astructural member, said assembly comprising first and second pairs ofU-shaped members, and separate toggle clip means for interconnectingeach end of each U-shaped member of said first pair of U-shaped membersto a separate end of the U-sahped members of said second pair ofU-shaped members, the two ends of each U-shaped member of said firstpair of U-shaped members being interconnected by separate said toggleclip means to the ends of separate U-shaped members of said second pairof U-shaped members.
 2. A hanger assembly for holding a pouring form forencasing a structural member wherein said form includes a support memberpositioned under said structural member, said assembly comprising firstand second spaced apart U-shaped members positioned over said structuralmember with the open ends thereof extending downwardly on opposite sidesof said structural member, third and fourth spaced apart U-shapedmembers positioned to hold said support member and having upwardlyextending open ends, and separate toggle clip members on the ends ofsaid first and second members and connected to separate ends of saidthird and fourth members.
 3. A hanger assembly for holding a pouringform for encasing a structural member wherein said form includes asupport member extending transversely under said structural member, saidassembly comprising first and second spaced apart U-shaped memberspositioned with their closed ends over said structural member and theiropen ends extending downwardly on opposite sides of said structuralmember, third and fourth spaced apart U-shaped members on opposite sidesof said structural member and each having closed ends under said supportmember and open ends extending upwardly, and separate toggle clipmembers on the ends of said first and second members and connected toseparate ends of said third and fourth members.
 4. The hanger assemblyof claim 3 wherein said first, second and third and fourth U-shapedmembers are formed of wire.
 5. The hanger assembly of claim 3 whereinsaid clip members are comprised of a metal strip having a longitudinallyextending U-shaped guide on one end thereof, a central aperture, and anadditional aperture on other end thereof, the ends of said first,second, third and fourth U-shaped members being bent, the bent end ofeach of said first and second member extending through one of theapertures of a separate clip, and the bent end of each of said third andfourth members extending through the other aperture in a separate clip,whereby in clamped position the one of said first, second, third andfourth members extending through the additional apertures in each clipalso engages the U-shaped guide of the corresponding clip.
 6. The hangerassembly of claim 5 wherein said strip comprises at least one furtheraperture longitudinally aligned with said centraL aperture.
 7. Thehanger assembly of claim 5 wherein the end of one of the first, second,third and fourth members at each clip is bent over at an angle greaterthan 90*.
 8. The hanger assembly of claim 7 wherein the end of the otherof said first, second, third and fourth members at each clip is peenedto retain said clip thereon
 9. The hanger assembly of claim 5 whereinthe ones of said first, second, third and fourth members at each saidclip extend along opposite sides of the respective clip.
 10. The hangerassembly of claim 9 wherein one of said first, second, third and fourthmembers at each clip has an end bent over at an angle of greater than90*, the bent over end extending through the central aperture of therespective clip and extending therebeyond a distance greater than thedistance between the clip and the other of said first, second, third andfourth members at the respective clip.
 11. The hanger assembly of claim5 wherein said strip has a transversely extending cut at said one end,said U-shaped guide being formed of the portion of said strip betweensaid cut and said one end thereof bent over along a longitudinal axis ofsaid strip, said central aperture being generally aligned with saidU-shaped guide, and said additional aperture being longitudinallyaligned with said cut.